From Scott R: Space Aussies playing as Astra Militarum in 10th Edition 40K 28mm Part II

 Hi all,

To start off, thanks Sylvain for putting up Part I and giving me points to get started.  I had a laptop failure which has put me behind.  New laptop and off we go.

I introduced the project for this years painting challenge in Part 1 this included a quick look at the infantry progress as well a quick look at the whole force.  Part II will look at the vehicles component that have been completed so far.

The Vehicles: Tanks

I have three tanks completed and ready for the table.  The vehicles are mostly Games Workshop, with one from Victoria Miniatures that came as part of the Kickstarter.

Victoria Miniatures Tank and APC based on the WW2 Matilda Hull to fit the Aussie Theme.  Both vehicles printed really easily and have excellent detail.  They scale well with the rest of the 28mm figures.  The only downside is the lack of weapon systems to make the tank viable as a stand in for 40K. the APC version however, has option and could be a Chimera or Hellhound.

The APC print fitted with weapons to use as a Hellhound.

The wheeled vehicles is another 3D print from 'The Makers Cult'.  I used this as a proxy for the Tuorox and Tuorox Prime, a Tracked APC with  and without a turret.  Personally, i dont like the look of the Tuorox from GW.  So went with this which reminds me of the old British Saladin we had in service in Australia.

The picture above is an example of the print options available from The Makers Cult.  I used the top two.

Some of the vehicle just after building the GW kits for the Leman Russ, Rogal Dorn, the two Tuorox can be seen with a GW Baneblade at the rear.

The remainder of the vehicles lined up getting undercoated black in prep for the colours.

The base green is down using a mix of AK Real Colours and Tamiya Acrylics.  This gave me the green modulation I wanted as they are supposed to be for a tropical forest/jungle terrain.

Side view, also the optional turrets and guns are here as well as the sentinel walker and the trench Mortar.  The Trench Mortar is another 3D print from Victoria Miniatures.  This is a beautiful model and fits in very well.

Second painting step complete.  Black camouflage lines to break up the shape now done on all the vehicles as well as the dirty brown tracks and exhaust base colours. The Mortar and walker (Foreground) had the metallic grey components painted here as well.

The hulls have been masked off in preparation for the unit/faction fast identifier markings.  For me I chose a blue and white marking.  Again a throwback to Aussies in WW2.  

The Blue and white were the markings of the Royal Australian Airforce, their roundels' and tail identifiers. So i wanted to continue that with this force.

Vehicles: Close Ups at the 99% completion Mark.

Decals and Markings:

The vehicles have been given markings that match my old regiment in Australia, the 1^st Armoured Regiment (1AR).  1AR was kitted out with the Leopard AS1.  The vehicles had standard markings, unit tactical signs, callsigns in white lettering, and a leopard head on the hull.  Although I placed these on the hull for better visibility.

Turret markings.

The decal sheet left was acquired from a company in Australia and suited the task well as it had all the markings and callsigns i needed.  the Decal Sheet right was from Company B a miniature online store out of the UK who do some odd sets.  This set is for the 6th Australian Division in North Africa.  

But it gave me the Divisional tac plate of the black square with Kangaroo and Boomerang.  Ok now onto the vehicles themselves

Rogal Dorn:

Front View

Rear View

Right Side with Callsin visible, 2C for the squadron Commander.  This allows me to recognise the vehicle as a command vehicle in the game.

Front with unit Tac sign yellow red square and the number 30 in white.

Leman Russ:

Similar markings however the callsign on this is 2D the second in commands' tank.  Again so the vehicle can be readily identified.

Tourox 

Slightly different marking on this.  as its an Infantry carrier i have given it an A Company callsign. 1 for A Company, 3 for the PLatoon and A for the Platoon Sgt.  13A.

Scout Sentinel:

Carries the Number 7 as this is the callsign for the Reconnaissance Troop in the Regiment.

So thats it for the vehicles so far.  Their are still a number of tanks to finish as well as one aircraft.  These will have different markings but same pattern camouflage.  

Part III:  The Infantry and Gun Teams:

This is the Infantry Command Team.  Its finished except for the basing which is next up on the bench to get the infantry of my to do table.  The Command comprises a radio Operator or Vox, Standard bearer, Medic, veteran with a specialist weapon.  The Commander i will save for the next part.  Cheers.

Points Summary:  While Sylvain was generous with giving me points for the painted infantry, to me they were not finished because the bases were not done.  I appreciate the points to get me rolling though.  The vehicle here are the same, they are 99% done but not looking for points yet.  I will submit my points summary once the project has completed.

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Sylvain: Your "Space Aussies" project is such a great concept. I love the uniform look of your army. I will let you go for now, but I'm very eager to award you points for all your good work. See you next time!

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From HerrRobert: Dastardly Daddies and Pistol Packin' Mamas (20 points)

Cornpone Junction is a dusty town bisected by the El Paso and Southwest Railroad, lured north from the dusty border crossing with Mexico by the allure of economic growth and wealth along the railroad line. Neatly bisected by the railroad in an old-fashioned arrangement, it's a dusty combination of Anglo wood-frames and Mexican adobe. And, naturally, home to all manner of desperate and dangerous creatures, most of them human.

Ma Baker, J. H. F. Mudd, Minnie the Moocher and the enigmatic Mr. Chen

Cornpone Junction is the Western setting for many of my Western games, mostly played using (heavily) modified Legends of the Old West ruleset, and I'm slowly building up my collection of figures. First up is Ma Baker, the grandmother and diabolical mastermind of the Hoss Posse (pronounced so it rhymes), a notorious collection of ne'er do wells infamous for bank robbing, mine rustling, kidnapping and wanton cattle murder. Ma Baker joins the ranks of the infamous Boss Hoss, Fancy Dan, Bat Masterson, and Gentle Nell.

"Freeze, I'm Ma Baker, put your hands in the air"

"Gimmie all your money"

Ma Baker is a 28mm Knuckleduster miniature from their Gunfighter's Ball line; she can be purchased either independently, as I did, or from their Pistol Packin' Mamas pack. 

My inspiration was the eponymous Boney M song Ma Baker, and the various Hollywood movies around Ma Barker, the supposed mastermind of the Barker Gang, though scholarship is quite mixed on her actual involvement and culpability in the gang's crimes. However, the various movie posters matched the figure almost exactly (just substituting the Thompson for a more prosaic double-barreled shotgun), so I based the paint scheme after one of the many movie posters of the time.

I think I did a pretty good job matching the purple dress, grey hair, and white apron. The dress was several thin coats of DecoArt Cranberry Wine, with a wash of Voluptus Pink contrast paint from Citadel.

Next up is Minnie the Moocher, another Knuckleduster figure available independently as a single figure. In the Gunfighter's Ball Universe, she's the head madam of Front Street. while in Cornpone Junction she's a less genteel and more nefarious character.

Paint scheme comes predominantly from the Gunfighter's Ball card, which I matched as closely as I could. The skirt and hat were fairly easy; it's the same paint mix as Ma Baker, but with a pinker coat between the two coats of Cranberry Wine. Her blouse was more involved, necessitating multiple different shades of pink before picking out the collar, cuffs, ruffled and buttons in white. It was finally all brought together with a light gray wash from GameColor.

She's also named from another song, this time Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher; though, with a derringer cheroot and her award-winning smile and personality, she doesn't need the King of Sweden to give her the things she's a needn. 

Though Roz from Monster's Inc might also be claimed as an inspiration.

Next is the enigmatic Mr. Chen, head of the Chinese Benevolent Association in Cornpone Junction. 

Many American cities and towns had Chinese brotherhoods, business associations and secret societies often known as Tongs set up to assist Chinese laborers, immigrants and residents across America. Traces of these smaller and more rural Chinatowns survive, especially in parts of California's Central and Sacramento Valleys.

Mr. Chen is a Great Escape Games miniature from their Tong set for Dead Man's Hand. Again, I stuck pretty closely to the box art for the faction. Black dry brushed with Delta Ceramcoat Pavement (lower robes) or Charcoal Gray (hat) formed the basic design, though the sleeves were painted in Reaper's Dark Elf skin triad. The central jerkin was Mondo Llama Whipped Honey, with Army Painter Soft Tone to take off the satin shine.

I was less satisfied with my choices for skin tone. I didn't have a good paint mix for Chinese skin tones the way I do for various Caucasian, African or Middle Eastern figures, so I had to whip something up on the fly. ChatGPT helped a little, but I'm not satisfied with the results. Since I have lots of Chinese and Japanese figures to paint up for various eras, I'll probably just buy the Foundry triad.

Last up is not a resident of Cornpone Junction. The rapskallion J. Harcourt Fenton Mudd is for my Darkest Africa scenarios. Much like his descendent in the 23rd Century, he is trader of ill repute who will buy, sell, trade, dabble or deal in virtually anything, though he's somehow become an erstwhile representative of Her Majesty the Queen, or so he claims. Though one's choice for consul in deepest Tangayika is quite slim, if he has any official standing beyond sheer presumpton, gumption and the largest whiskers in East Africa.

What wouldn't you buy from, or sell to, a man with a moustache larger than most Frenchmen?

Mudd is a Wargames Foundry figure from DA012 - A League of Exceptional Gentleman in their Darkest Africa line. I picked up a primed and based figure in a cheap figure bin easily fifteen years ago, though he was sitting in the primed to paint pile of shame for at least the last two Challenges.

I went with my usual British Army blue mix for the trousers, leather for the mid-calf boots, a Reaper or GameColor khaki for the helmet cover, and Whipped Honey again for the jacket. It was a fun mix to paint.

Figures were done on Sunday, when the first round of photos went very bad. Unlike my last submission, the black background resulted in blown photos, and the white background was horribly overexposed. After another long session with ChatGPT, I ended up building a riser for my painting studio, putting in a neutral grey foamcore background, and still not able to get a clean background deletion for that crisp black look. I'm not happy with the photos, but I just need to get these posted and on the board.

My photography booth

Scoring:

4 28mm foot figures @5 points per = 20 points

So I'm now 40% of my very modest goal, and ready to dive into some Villistas, and maybe score my first squirrel point.

 

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Sylvain: With your passionate description, your painted miniatures become alive before our eyes. And your paint job is fabulous, based on thorough pop-culture research. I especially like your basing, an evocation of the dry climate of Western country. Bravo

From ErikP: Horse & Musket Civilians in the fields, Wargames Foundry 28mm (25 points)

 Hello Everyone, 

This is a set of 28 mm Wargames Foundry, 18th century civilians bringing in bundles of crops.  These are for my 28mm Napoleonic games, mostly I use Sharp Practice rule set, and have done a few small games of Black Powder too. 

These five (5) foot figures with a few bundles of wheat, the sack is from another pack, I think it's also Wargames Foundry. They were a lot of fun to paint, as well as the few bits of bundled crops for a little scatter terrain, so I did these too. I'll submit the separate Terrain Post for the couple of points they might be worth.

For Sarah's Choice consideration, two farm ladies.

:

"...I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain;"  

Probably, no one will get the quote, but that's okay. 

Painting these I use several different types of paints; Army Painter Speed Paints 2.0, Vallejo, Army Painter Quick Shades. I used the Speed Paints to get started, then add layers of regular paints, and dry brushing, use quick shades, then more dry brushing, and touch ups. 

One on the funniest challenges of painting these civilians was the water in the buckets.  I wanted to get a good water effect, and I am pretty happy with the results.  

I used Speed Paint 2.0 Tyrian Navy and added more Speed Paint about a 2/1 mix to dilute it.  Then once dry used gloss varnish, about three coats. I also used it on the wooden spoon and the lower face of the guy drinking, but it doesn't show up as well. Might need a couple extra coats for varnish.

I enjoy adding extras to my game tables, even when it has nothing to do with the scenario objectives.  Scatter terrain, animals, and civilians of course.  Just to add a little something to make things more interesting.  

With these done, I'm off to finish some more Prussians.

Summary of Points:

5 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 25 points.

Total = 25 points.

Squirrel Points = +1 [Prussian Epic (13.5mm), Napoleonic Civilians 28mm] 

Total Squirrel points = 1.

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Sylvain: Lovely farmers' figurines. I like how your bases evoke a wheat field. They all look so rustic and the extra bits add a very nice touch. Bravo!